The present invention relates to a vehicle storage box assembly for securely attaching to a pickup truck bed.
The use of vehicle storage boxes is known in the art. One such vehicle storage box assembly is described in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 6,523,877 in which the storage box may be securely attached to a pickup truck bed without having to drill holes or weld or otherwise fix various fasteners to or in the truck pickup bed or walls thereof.
Although the assembly shown in my prior patent is capable of relatively easy installation in or removal from the truck bed, it would be desirable if the ease and/or speed of installation or removal could be further improved. Moreover, it also would be advantageous if a single assembly would be capable of being readily adapted to the configuration of various pickup beds of different manufacturers or models without the need to provide an inventory of different assembly configurations for different variously configured truck beds.
The improved vehicle storage box assembly of the present invention achieves those goals. The assembly of the present invention may be easily and rapidly installed in and/or removed from the pickup bed of a truck. Moreover, the vehicle storage box assembly of the present invention may be readily adjusted and adapted to accommodate a wide variety of pickup bed configurations and truck models without the need to maintain an inventory of differing assemblies for specific pickup bed configurations and/or truck models.
In one principal aspect of the present invention, a storage box is provided for installation in a vehicle having a bed that includes a sidewall and a grooved floor, and the sidewall has a channel  facing the grooved floor. The storage box comprises a main portion having an interior and a bottom surface; a rib extending along the bottom surface; and a mounting for mounting the rib to the bottom surface so that it is laterally adjustable so that the rib may be movably positioned to be complimentary to the grooved floor for preventing lateral movement of the main portion relative to the grooved floor. An elongate rod is extendably coupled to the main portion, the rod being positioned such that it moveably extends toward the channel in the sidewall when the main portion is positioned adjacent the sidewall to prevent the rib from disengaging the grooved floor whereby the main portion is secured to the bed of the vehicle.
In another principal aspect of the present invention, the mounting comprises at least one laterally extending slot in the bottom surface, and a fastener which is coupled to the rib and extends through the slot. The fastener has a first loosened condition in which the fastener is movable in the slot to permit lateral movement of the rib relative to the bottom surface, and a second tightened condition in which the rib is fixed relative to the bottom surface.
In still another principal aspect of the present invention, the storage box includes a plurality of the ribs laterally spaced from each other.
In still another principal aspect of the present invention, the storage box includes an aperture in the main portion, and the rod extends from the interior of the main portion through the aperture.
In still another principal aspect of the present invention, the storage box includes a quick acting line clamp in the interior of the main portion, the line clamp including the rod. The quick acting line clamp is movable to a first position in which the rod moves outwardly of the interior through the aperture and toward the channel, and to a second position in which the rod moves inwardly of the interior through the aperture and away from the channel.
In still another principal aspect of the present invention, the storage box includes a jam block,  and the rod contacts the jam block to move the jam block into the channel when the rod is moved toward the channel, and away from the channel when the rod is moved away from the channel.
In still another principal aspect of the present invention, the line clamp is mounted to a wall in the interior of the main portion.
In still another principal aspect of the present invention, the rod is threaded and a locking nut is threadedly coupled to a portion of the threaded rod, and the locking nut is positionable relative to the main portion for locking the threaded rod in an extended position.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood through a consideration of the following detailed description.